The present invention relates to an electrical connector having guide bushes, and more particularly to a connector having guide bushes with enhanced ground contacts.
It is well known that particular electrical connectors, particularly input/output ("I/O") connectors, may be fitted with guide bushes on their application surfaces (front faces) for receiving corresponding guide pins of a complementary electrical connector. By providing guide holes in the guide bushes for the corresponding pins, proper alignment is more easily achieved between the mating connectors. An example of such an input/output electrical connector is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-140096.
A typical I/O electrical connector includes a dielectric housing having a front face and a mating portion projecting forwardly from the front face, a plurality of terminals mounted in a complementary mating portion of the housing for engaging complementary terminals in the mating connector during mating, and a conductive shield on the front face of the housing, the shield generally including a shroud encircling the mating portion and linear arrangement of the terminals and a flange integrally formed with the shroud for overlying much or all of the front face of the connector. The shields of the mating connectors preferably engage and maintain electrical contact upon mating, and will thereby be kept at ground or at least the same potential.
Typically, an internally threaded cylindrical bore extends through the flange and front face on either side of the shroud to provide a pair of recesses into which externally threaded guide bushes may be mounted. Generally, guide bushes have a relatively narrow externally threaded tail sections for screwing into the internally threaded recesses as well as a relatively wider head section for mounting flush to the front face and projecting forwardly from the front face to provide enhanced mating capability, as described above, with a corresponding electrical connector or other electronic device.
Because of the structure of the shield and the manner in which it is mounted on the housing, significant wearing and/or deformation may occur, thereby weakening or inhibiting the electrical contact between the opposing shields and making the ground potential unstable.